dotfiles

Shell and tool configuration for my Linux machines.

home/ mirrors $HOME. Each tracked file is a symlink from $HOME into this clone, created with GNU Stow. Editing a file in place edits the clone, so git status shows every change.

Layout

Path	Content
home/	Live files, at the same relative path they have under $HOME.
.stowrc	Stow options: target ~, one symlink per file.
legacy/	macOS setup from 2016 to 2020 (tmux, Neovim, iTerm). Unlinked.

Commands

Run them from the root of the clone, with no -d or -t option: .stowrc is read from the current directory.

Goal	Command
Check the links without changing	stow -n -v home
Create missing links	stow home
Take over a file that has content	stow --adopt home
Remove the links	stow -D home

stow -n -v home exits 0 and prints only WARNING: in simulation mode so not modifying filesystem. when every link is in place. A LINK: line, still with exit 0, means a link is missing; stow home creates it. Exit 1 with a conflict report means a tool replaced a symlink with a regular file. stow --adopt home moves that file into the clone, over the tracked version, and links it again; review the result with git diff and discard unwanted content with git restore home.

New machine

sudo pacman -S --needed stow
git clone git@github.com:ferhtgoldaraz/dotfiles.git ~/code/dotfiles
cd ~/code/dotfiles
stow -n -v home
stow home

Stow exits 1 and creates no link when a target already exists as a regular file. A new CachyOS user has three: .bash_profile, .bashrc and .config/fish/config.fish. Move them away, or run stow --adopt home and then git restore home: adopt replaces the tracked version with the file from the machine, and the restore brings the tracked version back.

The files expect mise at ~/.local/bin/mise, the Vite+ env file at ~/.config/vite-plus/env, and a clone of git@github.com:ferhtgoldaraz/zsh-shims.git at /home/fer/code/zsh-shims. Until they exist, shells print errors at startup, Zim loads no module, and a POSIX sh that reads ~/.profile exits.

PATH

home/.config/shell/env.sh is the one file that adds user directories to PATH for bash, zsh and POSIX sh. It exports the variables of .config/environment.d/10-shared.conf, then puts each directory of its list in front of PATH unless PATH already holds it, so a second run changes nothing. .profile, .bashrc and .config/zsh/.zshenv source it. Add a directory to its list, not to those files.

Four cases stay outside it:

• bash -c and sh -c normally read no startup file and keep the PATH they inherit.
• fish keeps its own setup in .config/fish/config.fish.
• The Vite+ env file, which .profile, .bashrc, .zshenv and .zshrc source after it, moves ~/.local/share/vite-plus/bin to the front and appends ~/.local/share/vite-plus/fallback-bin.
• An interactive bash or zsh then runs mise activate, which replaces the shims directory with the directories of the installed tools.

A graphical session takes the new order at the next login.

Checks

Run them from ~, through the links. Each one exits 0 and prints nothing.

cd ~
shellcheck -s bash -x -o all .bashrc .bash_profile
shfmt -d -s .bashrc .bash_profile
shellcheck -s sh -x -o all .config/shell/env.sh
shfmt -ln posix -d -s .config/shell/env.sh

Rules

• The clone is live. Keep it on master; use git worktree add for other branches, because switching branch changes the files that shells read.
• This repository is public. Secrets, tokens, and private identifiers stay out.
• Files that a tool regenerates on its own stay out, such as the env files written by the rustup and Vite+ installers. Three tracked files are written by a tool on request, through the symlink: mise edits .config/mise/config.toml, p10k configure regenerates .config/zsh/.p10k.zsh, and the DMS installer overwrites .config/environment.d/90-dms.conf. Review git diff after running them.